I condemn this act and I hope the guy is executed.
If a GOP rep. had been targeted we can only imagine the talk coming from the media and the Dems today. This was the act of a lone nut, with no ideology, etc. They would do everything they could to downplay any connection to the left.
As far as their lashing out at bad rhetoric, that almost sounds like a joke. For decades we have heard conservatives are racist, sexist, want old people to die, want poor people to suffer, want to reinstate slavery, etc etc. Now they want the vitriol to stop? What hypocrites.
No, they would have spun it as a "chickens coming home to roost" moment, saying "It's the Republicans own fault for starting with the violent rhetoric!".